China launches national R&D project to develop high-end compound rubber

A national key R&D plan on compound rubber has lately been launched in Beijing, which will focus on developing four kinds of high-performance rubber products with proprietary intellectual property rights and producing double B-grade tires.

Gong Guangbi, head of the project and chief of CNPC Lanzhou Chemical Research Center, said China still lags far behind the global leading level in terms of high-end tires.

Under the seven grades of EU mark law, Chinese tires are normally ranked at about E/F grade, while the global leading companies are approaching the double B grade.

The project aims not only to make breakthroughs in fundamental research, but also to launch actual production of at least 30,000 tons a year, said Gong.

If each of the four kinds of rubber products realizes an annual output of 30,000 tons, the total production value will be about 1.335 billion yuan and the total profits will be about 267 million yuan.

If a double B tire is sold at 600 yuan with profit of 20 yuan, selling 1 million such tires will contribute added value of 600 million yuan and profits of 20 million yuan to a tire firm.

Considering China produces about 500 million tires a year, the combined production value of the tire industry will reach 75 billion yuan and profits will add 2.5 billion yuan, if some 25 percent of Chinese tire firms adopt such technologies.

China has about 125 million cars. If all the cars use double B tires, they will save about 5.5 million tons of fuel a year, and decreases large amounts of carbon dioxide emission and other partical contaminations.